It was a big Friday for the Hillsdale College women's cross country team, which split its squad between two meets in its final tune-up before the G-MAC Conference championships at the end of the month.
Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational
The bulk of the women's team competed at the Joe Piane Invitational hosted by Notre Dame in South Bend on Friday.
As the only Division II school in the field at a massive invitational that includes a variety of teams from across the biggest conferences in Division I of the NCAA, the Chargers acquitted themselves well in the invitational, taking fifth in the Open Division with 124 points.
Leading the way for the Chargers was freshman Liz Wamsley, who took 36th overall in the open division race, finishing her first collegiate cross country 5K in 18:24.7 to help Hillsdale finish ahead of eight teams in the race.
In her best race of the season to date, sophomore Gwynne Riley was next across the line for the Chargers in 53rd place, finishing in a new personal best of 18:43.6, and freshman Abby Scherer was close behind in 61st, running a time of 18:48.1 in her first collegiate 5K.
Junior Claire McNally took 65th (18:52.4) and sophomore Meg Scheske finished 70th (19:01.1) to round out the scoring runners for the Chargers in the race.
Freshman Vera Thompson finished 100th (19:38.1) as well for Hillsdale, and freshman Kayla Loescher took 143rd (20:41.8) as well for the Chargers.
Hillsdale now turns its focus and training towards the G-MAC Championship meet on Oct. 23 in Cedarville, Ohio. The Chargers have won the G-MAC Championship twice in four years and were runners-up last season, but face a tough road to the title with nationally-ranked Cedarville and Walsh also gunning for the crown.
LCC Invitational
The Chargers also sent three runners to compete in the Lansing Cross Country Invitational, hosted at Grand Woods Park by Lansing Community College.
All three of Hillsdale's athletes finished in the top 30 of the 5K race, led by sophomore Natalie Martinson, who took 15th overall in a time of 20:12.4.
Making her collegiate debut, freshman Brynn Edison was close behind in 21st with a time of 20:25.3, and freshman Olivia Chapman rounded out Hillsdale's finishers with a personal best time of 20:39.5, good for 26th overall.
Photo by Gwen Buchhop